Believing punishment should humiliate, Puritans in New English locked sinners and lawbreakers in the stocks and pillory for the public to witness their shame.

The more things change….

So Sudbury Police Chief Richard Glavin resigned the day after he was arrested and charged with drunken driving and assault.

After his arrest for driving drunk and fleeing the scene of an accident, Catholic Bishop Robert McManus issued a statement admitting "a terrible error in judgment’’ and asked for forgiveness.

Glavin and McManus separately pleaded not guilty to charges lodged against them.

Two officials whose professions suggest they should be models of rectitude find themselves ensnared in a public ritual that fuses elements of "The Scarlet Letter’’ with the Jerry Springer show.

Thomas Cushman, professor of sociology at Wellesley College, observed many cultures have required public apologies as "a kind of performance to restore the moral order in society by exposing hypocrisy.’’

"People love to see the mighty fall, especially a cop who seems to be abusing the law. A public apology is meant to hit the ‘reset button’ so (they) can go about doing their jobs,’’ he said.

Like several media consultants, political scientists and journalists, he believes high profile figures who have fallen from grace have little choice but to make public apologies that have a theatrical element in them.

"Whenever someone puts themselves forward as a moral exemplar, the public thirst for them to appear and degrade themselves is much stronger,’’ said Cushman, author of "A Matter of Principle."

He noted ordinary people often find it prudent to apologize in court. But officials and celebrities "feel compelled to apologize publicly’’ to keep their jobs or box office clout.

"People are more likely to forgive public figures if they can imagine themselves doing the same thing,’’ said Cushman. "It’s a variation of Jesus’ words, ‘Let him without sin cast the first stone.’ "

A veteran journalist now teaching at Northeastern University, Dan Kennedy said the public "can be very forgiving of public foibles in any walk of life’’ if the particular figure appears willing to "make a clean break with the past and move on.’’

He agrees with others that "public mea culpas often seem designed to help people keep their jobs.’’

But when a public figure runs afoul of the law, Kennedy said the decision to make a public apology runs into "competing interests.’’

"Someone in trouble has to balance the public relations benefit with their possible legal interests. If you’re in danger of going to prison, you can’t make a mea culpa because it’s like a confession,’’ he said.

Kennedy believes the public won’t forgive others’ "misbehavior that goes to the heart of their job or what makes them famous.’’

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He noted that South Carolina voters just sent former Governor Mark Sanford, who underwent a humiliating romantic scandal, to Congress. But Bay Staters hold former state Rep. Sal DiMasi "in low regard’’ for his conviction for profiting from his job as Speaker of the House.

An assistant professor of advertising at Boston University who has served as a media consultant on presidential, congressional and gubernatorial elections, Tobe Berkovitz observed that "one size doesn’t fit all’’ when it comes to public apologies.

"The American public is familiar with the mea culpa tour,’’ he said. "It depends most of all on who the public figure is and whether they are sincerely asking for forgiveness or just trying to get back in the groove.’’

For public figures attempting to rehabilitate tarnished images, Berkovitz believes "the ultimate sin in the public’s eyes is hypocrisy.

"The bigger the hypocrite, the tougher to forgive,’’ he said.

Since police chiefs are sworn to enforce the law, Berkovitz finds it "highly problematic’’ that Glavin was charged with assault. Since McManus's position as leader of the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Worcester makes him a sort of "moral arbiter,’’ Berkovitz believes the allegation that McManus fled the scene is more troublesome than the charge of driving drunk.

With a few exceptions, such as crimes against children, high profiles figures who make the right moves, like former President Bill Clinton, can earn the public’s forgiveness.

"Bill Clinton set the gold standard for stepping in it and just plugging ahead,’’ said Berkovitz. "And he was blessed with bad enemies, like Ken Starr, who had no shame.’’

Maurice Cunningham, associate professor of political science at UMass/Boston, said, "The American public has always been pretty good about accepting the humanity of people who apologize if delivered with genuine contrition.’’

He stressed "transparently insincere’’ apologies or self-serving justifications cooked up by public relations firms don’t generally fool the public.

But Cunningham noted Mayor James M. Curley remained a folk hero despite two federal convictions and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has re-entered public life after a prostitution scandal.

"People are forgiving,’’ he said. "Even (Richard) Nixon was rehabilitated.’’